Kviða

Meaning of Old Norse word "kviða"

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

kviða

u, f. [kveða], an epic poem, a song or ballad composed in such metre as the Völuspá, and thus opp. to mál (a didactic poem, sentences), q. v., drápa (heroic), q. v., and ríma (modern ballads), q. v.: the name of several old songs, Hýmis-kviða, Sæm. 105 (Bugge); Þryms-k., 124; Völsunga-k., 193; Helga-k., 112 (Möbius); í þessi kviðu, 241 (Bugge); Guðrúnar-k. in forna, 241, 242; Sigurðar-k. in Skamma, 246 (Fas. i. 197); kviða Sigurðar, Sæm. 247; k. Guðrúnar, 274; Atla-k. in Grænlenzka, 282; Hákonar-k., Fms. ix; Glælungs-k., v. 100, 108; í kviðunni, Grett. 105 new Ed. kviðu-háttr, m. the metre of a kviða, the epic metre such as that of the Völuspá, Beowulf, and the like, opp. to ljóða-háttr and mál; þvíat þá þykkir betr hljóða þessar samstöfur í kviðu-hætti, Skálda 182 (Olave Hvíta-skáld); the word also occurs in the Háttatal Rögnvalds, verse 3, and is a more correct name than the usual fornyrðalag, which has no old authority, except in a lemma from a later hand in one of the verses of the Háttatal by Snorri.

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᚴᚢᛁᚦᛅ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements